the first run-on sentence in our novel of forever

Laughing with another under a starlit sky in a place you never expected to be where the highways are only one lane wide and the landscape is green, green, green as far as your eye can see

Waking up to your universe tapping you on the shoulder, highlighter pink flower petals in one hand, spearmint gum and granola bar in the other. Good morning, sweetheart, he says

Holding on like there’s no tomorrow because there isn’t, at least not the one you want; because 10 am is the scheduled apocalypse and it’s already 4:53; because each snore shakes you like an earthquake you will no longer have the privilege of experiencing in a few short hours

Walking hand in hand down Choate Road as the skies smile in approval – their torrential downpour anointing your lashes, then your hips, then your fingertips until your whole world is rainwater because that’s all you can taste on his lips

Sighing as chaos becomes perfectly synchronized calm while the vulture in your chest turns into a woodpecker on your tongue and you are melting, burning, exploding, as if your mind has been struck by hellfire, only not, because this is heaven on Earth and you are a phoenix rising from the ashes, ready to fly free as one entity

Staring at the setting sun, smiling because the layers of peach, lavender, and magenta fade into an amber glow…then a sapphire sparkle…then finally a midnight blue where you have nothing to fear, because nights are no longer the cold, harsh, lonely they used to be – they’re dark though, dark so the effervescence dancing on your heartstrings can illuminate your insides and shine forth as bright as the rising sun